


Family

by d2fmeasurement



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-15
Updated: 2017-08-06
Packaged: 2018-10-31 23:13:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,370
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10909428
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/d2fmeasurement/pseuds/d2fmeasurement
Summary: Sara and Rip start to talk about having kids.





	1. Chapter 1

Sara looked at Rip skeptically before slurping up the spaghetti he’d placed in front of her. She smiled and said, “I deem this acceptable.”

“Acceptable? I’m really making progress,” Rip said, smiling proudly.

“Maybe better than acceptable,” she said. She slurped more up, then wiped her mouth.

Rip grabbed a bottle of wine from the cabinet in the Waverider’s kitchen and started pouring two glasses.

“So, uh, listen. There’s something I wanted to talk about.”

Rip raised an eyebrow, intrigued. Sara wasn’t usually one for big talks.

“I’ve been thinking about it a lot and I want to have a baby,” she told him.

He stared at her as he took his seat across from her at the table.

When enough time had passed, she gently asked, “Rip? Did you hear me?”

Rip slowly nodded. “If you strongly feel as though that’s what you want then perhaps you should be with someone else.”

Sara frowned. “Wh-- how can you say that?”

“You know how much I love you,” Rip told her. “And how much I want to be with you. But, I don’t want to get in the way of anything that’s truly important to you. I would never hold you back from what you want.”

Sara shook her head in disbelief. “You do understand that I wasn’t trying to break up with you, right? I thought that--”

“I know what you thought,” Rip said, raising his voice more than he meant to. He cleared his throat. “I’m sorry,” he said.

“It’s okay,” Sara told him. “I understand what you went through.”

“But, you don’t understand,” he reminded her gently. “What it’s like to lose a child. I love Jonas. I don’t want to try again. I don’t want to replace him. I don’t want to start over like he never existed.”

“I would never ask you to pretend he never existed,” Sara said.

Rip cringed and said, “I know. I know. I’m sorry. I can’t move on. And that’s my problem, not yours. That’s why I say that you should consider being with someone else. Not to be dismissive, not to discredit what we have. But, because I care about you enough to truly believe you should go after the things you want.”

Sara had no idea what to say. Finally, she said, “This really isn’t how I wanted this conversation to go.”

“I know,” Rip told her. “I’m sorry.” After a pause, he asked, “Are you angry?”

“No,” she said, shaking her head. “Are you?”

“Never,” he said.

“If you need space and want to sleep in a different bedroom tonight, I understand,” he said.

“Wow, you’re really doubling down on pushing me away,” Sara said.

“I’m just trying to--”

“I know,” Sara said. “I appreciate it. But, I’d like to sleep in our bed tonight. Unless you’re the one who needs space.”

He shook his head.

 

 

That night, they snuggled up together in bed.

Sara kissed up his neck. “I love you, Rip Hunter,” she said. “I want to spend my life with you.”

Rip kissed her. “I love you too.”

“And?” Sara raised an eyebrow at him.

“It would be an honor to spend the rest of my life with you,” he said. He added, “But, not if it means you waking up in thirty years and feeling like you’ve missed out on something.”

Sara nodded. “Let’s not worry about that right now, alright?” She kissed him lovingly.

 

Days later, Sara walked into the library and saw Rip watching old hologram videos of Jonas.

“I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to interrupt.” She started backing out.

“It’s okay,” he said. “Do you want to sit down next to me?”

She sat down and curled up next to him. He put an arm around her.

“He seems like a great kid,” she said.

“He is,” Rip told her. The hologram ended and he set the remote aside to resist the temptation to replay it yet again. He hesitated and then said, “I always wanted to give him younger siblings.”

“Yeah?” Sara asked.

“Yes,” he said, smiling. “I grew up with other children running around all over. It’s terrible, I mean, you have to share everything, but it’s what I’m used to. I always imagined having a whole swarm of rugrats running around.”

Sara looked at him, surprised. She brushed bangs out of his face. “You’re smiling,” she said. “You know how rare that is?”

“I love kids,” he told her. “I do. I love everything about them. It’s just…”

He didn’t speak for a long time. Sara didn’t push him, she just rested her head on his shoulder and waited patiently.

“After what happened, I’m not the same way. And I don’t want to look down at a beautiful baby-- your baby-- and, when I should be only feeling love, instead I’m just feeling fear.”

Sara sat up and pulled Rip’s head against her chest. She petted his hair as Rip gently sobbed.

 

Sara and Rip had just returned from a mission in which they’d both almost died. While they were getting patched up in the med bay, Rip said, “I do hope our next target is slightly less perilous. I know that’s a lot to ask…”

“About that,” Sara said. “How would you feel about Star City 2018?”

Rip tilted his head.

“I was thinking I’d like to spend Laurel’s birthday with my father,” she said.

“Of course,” he said, nodding. “Should I…”

“I’d love for him to meet you,” she told him.

 

“Hi, daddy,” Sara said, pulling Quentin into a hug. He held onto her tightly, reluctant to let her go.

Finally, he pulled away and turned to Rip.

He held out his hand. “I’m Rip Hunter, I’m--”

“The time traveler who swept my daughter off on a dangerous mission,” Quentin said.

“I think he was going to say that he’s my boyfriend,” Sara told him. “And it’s pretty serious. It’s been five years now.”

Quentin furrowed his eyebrows. “But, you’ve only been away for--” He stopped mid-sentence. “Right.”

“Come on in,” he said. “I thought we’d have some coffee and donuts, then go to the cemetery. If that sounds good to you.”

“That’s perfect, daddy,” she told him.

They sat down in the living room.

“So, Rip, tell me about yourself,” Quentin said. “You and Sara travel through time doing what exactly?”

“We find and apprehend time criminals,” Rip told him.

“Time criminals, huh?” Quentin asked. He smiled playfully at Sara and said, “So, you basically grew up to be a cop.”

Sara laughed and said, “Kind of.” She stood up and said, “I’m going to go change into something a little more cemetery appropriate.” She headed up the stairs to her old bedroom to change.

“I’m terribly sorry about Laurel,” Rip told Quentin. “From everything Sara’s told me, she sounds like a wonderful person.”

“She was,” Quentin said, nodding.

“I lost my son a while back. I know how painful it is,” Rip said.

Quentin looked at him with surprise. “You seem so young.”

“Well, he was only eight,” Rip explained.

Quentin cringed. “Christ. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. I didn’t mean to take away from this being your day of grief,” Rip said. He picked up a coffee and raised it. “To Laurel,” he said.

Quentin nodded, picked up his coffee mug and clinked it against Rip’s. He took a sip of coffee, then said, “I’m lucky. I still have Sara. She’s my rock.”

“She wants to have a baby,” Rip told him. He looked at Quentin to gage his reaction.

Quentin grinned. “That’s great!”

“You think so?” Rip asked with surprise.

Quentin laughed and said, “Well, it doesn’t matter what I think, but yes. Another little Lance. Or, a little Hunter, I guess. Some joy. We could certainly all use that.”

“I thought perhaps… it’s hard for people who’ve been through what we’ve been through to really feel that joy again,” Rip said. “Maybe it’s just me. I never was great with emotions.”

To his surprise, Quentin squeezed his shoulder. Rip certainly wasn’t used to paternal affection and he wasn’t sure what to do.

“It’s not easy,” he said. “Opening yourself up to joy and love is pretty much the hardest thing anyone can do. But, you were able to do it with Sara, right? To love her?”

Rip nodded. “Sara made it impossible not to fall in love with her, even for someone as, um, closed down as I was.”

“Seems to me like you’ll probably feel the same way about her baby, right?” Quentin asked. He quickly added, “But, like I said, it doesn’t matter what I think.”

Sara descended down the stairs in a black dress. “What have you boys been talking about?”

Quentin playfully shook Rip’s shoulder as he said, “I was telling him that if he hurts my little girl, I’ll hunt him down, of course.”

Sara laughed. “Glad you’re never too old to give that speech.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sara and Rip settle into Star City 2018. Sara has big news for Rip.

Rip crawled into Sara’s old twin bed. She laughed and asked, “You going to be okay squeezing in here with me?”

“It’s alright. We’re both rather tiny,” Rip said.

“Hey, speak for yourself,” Sara said playfully, flexing her arm. She snuggled up against Rip and said, “I’m just amazed my dad let you sleep in the same room as me. I guess he officially sees me as a grown up.” 

“As cozy as your childhood bedroom is, we should probably start searching for our own place soon,” Rip said. 

Sara furrowed her eyebrows. “Why?” 

“Time doesn’t pass normally on the Waverider,” Rip said. “So, a baby wouldn’t be able to grow normally inside you on the ship.” When he saw Sara’s face, he added, “Sorry. I’m assuming that when you said you wanted a baby, you meant soon.”

“I did,” she said. “But, I thought you…”

He shrugged a little. She smiled and kissed him. She tilted her head and asked, “So, if we couldn’t have a baby on the Waverider, are you sure this is where you’d want to live?” She added, “And when you’d want to live?”

“Well, your family and friends are here and now,” he said, running his hands through her hair. “That seems important to you.” 

“And you making a baby in 2018 when you weren’t born until 22nd century, that wouldn’t be an aberration?” she asked, frowning. She wondered if she should’ve given more thought to what it really meant to settle down with Rip of all people. Traveling around on the Waverider just the two of them, it was easy to forget how complicated their situation actually was. 

“Technically, yes, creating a baby a century before my own birth would certainly affect the timeline,” Rip told her. “But, I believe it’s exactly what I’m supposed to be doing.” 

Sara sat up with surprise. “Wait, do you know something? This whole time have you known we’re meant to…”

Rip laughed and shook his head. “No, no, nothing like that,” he said. “I meant, I believe it’s what I’m supposed to be doing because of how I feel.” 

Sara smiled. “That doesn’t sound like the Rip Hunter I met all those years ago.”

“I most certainly am not that same Rip Hunter,” he told her. “But, I think you already knew that.” 

 

 

“Oh my God, Rip!” Nate said excitedly when he opened his office door. “What brings you here?” He led Rip inside and sat down at his desk. As Rip took the seat across from him, his cheery demeanor changed. “Wait, you must be here because something terrible happened. What happened? Who are we fighting?”

Rip laughed and said, “Relax. It’s alright. More than alright, actually.”

Nate tilted his head at him curiously. 

“Sara and I have decided to settle in this time and place,” he said. “And start a family.”

“Wow, that was fast,” Nate said. He shook his head, remembering they’d been on a time machine. “Or, I guess, maybe it wasn’t…”

“We took our time, I assure you,” Rip told him. “Anyway, I thought I’d ask you for a job. You’re aware of my historical knowledge and, um… I do need an employer who’ll overlook the fact that my identity is fake…” 

“Right, yeah,” Nate said. “Cool. I could totally use a research assistant.”

Rip frowned. “Assistant?” he repeated.

“Well, you don’t have any references who’ve, you know, been born yet,” Nate pointed out. “And, I mean, do you even know how to use Microsoft Office?”

“What is that?” Rip asked, furrowing his eyebrows. 

“I think assistant is pretty generous,” Nate said. He quickly added, “No offense, Mr. Hunter. Sir.” 

Rip nodded in resignation. “I suppose that is fair.” 

 

Rip returned to his and Sara’s new apartment. “Good news,” he called out. “I spoke to Mr. Heywood and he offered me a position as his research assistant.”

“Well, make sure you get flexible hours,” Sara said, emerging from the bathroom. “You’re going to have a lot on your plate.” 

She held out a pregnancy test. He looked down at it. “What does this mean?” 

“The two lines mean that I’m pregnant,” she explained.

He grinned. “That’s wonderful.” He pulled Sara into a kiss. He looked at the test curiously. “I’ve never seen something like this. How does it work?” 

“It’s pretty simple. I just peed on it and then--” 

Rip took a step back, wrinkling his nose a little. 

Sara raised an eyebrow.

“Sorry. I’m still adjusting to what a crude time 2018 actually is,” Rip said.

Sara rolled her eyes as she went into the bathroom to throw out the test and wash her hands. “You are prepared to change diapers, right? You’re not used to a robot butler doing that for you?” She started off joking, but then she emerged from the bathroom and asked, “Right?” 

Rip laughed. “I’m prepared to change diapers,” he assured her. He pulled her into a kiss. “I’m so happy right now,” he told her. 

“Me too,” she told him. “I never really thought I’d be doing this. I mean, I always dreamed about it when I was a kid, but then after the League of Assassins it felt like there was too much darkness inside me.” 

Rip tilted his head. “What made you change your mind?” 

Sara raised an eyebrow. “I’ll give you one guess, Mr. Hunter.”

He grinned and kissed her again.


	3. Proposal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rip meets Sara's mom.

Sara reached out for her second finger sandwich. When she noticed Quentin and Rip’s looks, she raised an eyebrow and asked, “Do I have to play the pregnancy card? Because I absolutely will.” 

Rip rubbed her back. “I was absolutely not going to comment on you starting on your second sandwich before your mother’s even arrived,” he assured her with an affectionate little smile.

“Good. Because I am a trained assassin, you know,” Sara reminded him. He nodded and kept rubbing her back.

Rip looked nervously around the park. 

“You’re not nervous to meet my mother, are you?” Sara teased.

“Why would I be nervous? I only recruited you for a dangerous time travel mission and then got you pregnant,” Rip said sarcastically. 

Quentin laughed, smiling at Rip with paternal affection. Rip looked back at him with the surprise he always felt when he realized Quentin actually liked him. 

Dinah arrived and grinned as she approached their picnic table. “Sara!”

Rip jumped to his feet out of nervous politeness as soon as he saw Dinah, but she was too distracted by seeing Sara again to pay attention to Rip. She pulled Sara into a tight hug.

She grinned as she reluctantly pulled away. She ran her eyes over Sara. “I’m so happy for you,” she said. “How far along are you?”

“Just a few weeks,” she said. 

Dinah nodded and looked over at Rip, assessing him. 

“Rip Hunter. It’s lovely to meet you,” Rip said, holding out his hand. 

“Nice to meet you, Rip. I’ve heard absolutely nothing about you,” Dinah said. She gave Sara a playfully scolding smile as she sat down. 

“Well, I’m from London,” Rip told her. “And I’ve just recently procured a job in the history department at the college.”

“Ooh, an indoor, academic type,” Dinah said. “That’s a nice change of pace for you.”

“Yeah, eventually you just want to settle down with the non-confrontational, predictable type, I guess,” Sara said. She playfully squeezed Rip’s hand under the table. 

“You know, Central City has a very prestigious university and I might be able to put in a good word for you…” she said.

“Are you trying to steal them away from me?” Quentin asked. His voice was playful, but he had to admit the idea of Sara moving away-- even if it was just to Central City-- after finally coming home terrified him a bit.

“We’re happy where we are, mom,” Sara told her. “You’re just going to have to visit more.”

Dinah grinned and said, “I can definitely do that.” She beamed and clapped her hands. “I can’t believe there’s going to be a little grand baby in the family. You must be so excited.”

Rip smiled at her and said, “We are.”

“Let me tell you, Rip, the feeling of holding your child in your arms… it’s unbelievable. The best feeling in the world. You can’t imagine.” 

Rip’s immediate instinct was to tell her ‘I know.’ But, he didn’t want to get into all that. “You should have one of the finger sandwiches I made before my lovely girlfriend here eats them all,” he told her.

“Hey! Eating for two!” Sara reminded him jokingly.

“Right, of course,” Rip said, lightly kissing her neck.

Dinah finished off her sandwich then looked at them curiously. “So, did I just hear you call Sara your girlfriend? Not fiancé or…”

“Mom,” Sara said in a warning tone.

“Just curious!” 

“How about instead of interrogating Rip, you tell me how you’ve been doing, mom,” Sara suggested.

 

 

“Well, that went pretty well,” Sara said, sitting down on the couch. She put her feet up on a chair.

Rip nodded. He gently moved her feet so he could sit down, then set her feet in his lap. He slid her shoes off and started lightly giving her a foot rub. 

Sara bit her lip and then said, “I’m sorry my mom said all that about how you can’t imagine what it’s like to hold your child.”

“It’s difficult,” Rip told her. “I can’t have a casual conversation without people telling me how much I have to look forward to. And, yes, it brings up a lot of feelings. About what I’ve already been through. I can’t deny that.” He squeezed Sara’s knee. “But, I know in my heart that when I hold this baby, when I see this baby’s first steps and all of that… it will feel like a brand new experience.”

Sara leaned forward so she could kiss Rip. She pulled away and then asked, “So, what do you think about the other thing? The whole I’m not your fiancé, I’m just your pregnant girlfriend thing?”

“Well, you’ve never said anything about wanting to marry me,” Rip said. “You simply told me that you wanted to have a baby and…” He smiled at her admiringly. “I’ve never known you to be someone who hides what you want.” He tilted his head. “Am I wrong?”

“No,” she said, shaking her head. “I hadn’t really given any thought to marriage. I guess when you’ve traveled through time saving the world with someone, that all seems a little insignificant. But, now that I’m pregnant and every single person I talk to asks me about it…” She laughed. “I don’t know. I think a wedding could be delightfully normal.” 

Rip nodded. “You know, I don’t think this is supposed to be a calm discussion like this. I believe someone is supposed to--”

Sara pulled her feet out of Rip’s lap and moved onto one knee on the floor. Rip grinned down at her. Sara mimed opening a box.

“Rip Hunter… when I get around to buying a ring, will you wear it, and then will you make me the happiest time traveling vigilante in the world?” 

“I would love to, Captain Lance,” Rip told her. 

Sara pulled him into a loving kiss.


End file.
